


Bridge To Idris

by jordahparrish



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Angst, Heavy Angst, I'm Sorry, Just angst, M/M, all of the angst, i'm still sorry, it hurt to write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2016-09-04
Packaged: 2018-08-13 01:31:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7956910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jordahparrish/pseuds/jordahparrish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alec Lightwood didn’t really have many friends, but when a new girl joins his school he finds it impossible not to enjoy her company. Lydia introduces Alec to his own imagination and the pair create their own world, Idris. The pair keep their imaginary world to themselves, enjoying their battles with various demons to save Idris.</p><p>When Alec finds himself lucky enough to go on a date with his longtime crush, Magnus bane, he leaves Lydia to defend Idris on her own. He returns home only to have his heart broken when he’s told of the tragedy that occurred in the forest whilst he was with Magnus.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bridge To Idris

Alec didn’t have many friends, just his younger sister Izzy and their little brother Max. At school he was somewhat alone, except for that Magnus boy who spoke to him every now and then. He was even mocked for his name, ‘what kind of name is Alec anyway?’, like other’s didn’t have weirder names than his own - he could think of a few; Magnus (Alec meant no offence to Magnus in thinking that, but it was true), Ragnor, Raphael (who was most likely named after that ninja turtle).

The people at his school were kind of stupid, to be fair, he was in a school full of idiots - then again it wasn’t entirely their fault. There were multiple plus sides to the school, like the music class.

Magnus’s mother was the kind music teacher who let the young teenagers sing any song of their choice (as long as it wasn’t too crude), that was the one class that Alec felt welcome in. Magnus would sit by his side and laugh as they both sang together - probably in the wrong key, but they didn’t care. 

Outside of that class, however, Magnus was distant, he played soccer with the older students. 

Just because he had Magnus in that one lesson, it didn’t mean he wasn’t alone. Because he was. He was so alone and everyone else was spending their time making friends, getting into relationships - unfortunately for Alec, Magnus was even like that. Alec had seen him getting close behind the school with Camille Belcourt, the ridiculously good looking girl who would be one of the people to make fun of Alec. 

He thought he was destined to be alone. No friends, no relationships. His life decided to turn one day, when a girl with long braided blonde hair was waiting by the bus stop in the morning.

She turned to Alec, flinging her braid back over her shoulder as she did, and smiled as he cautiously approached her.

“By the angel! I thought I had missed the bus or something,” she laughed. Alec raised an eyebrow - what kind of person said ‘by the angel’?

“Uh…”

“Oh, right, I’m Lydia, Lydia Branwell,” she held out her hand eagerly, “my mother and I just moved in there,” she pointed to the house next to Alec’s, “you must be from the Lightwoods, we visited your house yesterday to talk to your parents. Your little brother and sister are adorable.”

The girl made Alec laugh slightly, he’d never seen somebody so eager to talk, “my name is Alec, and you’re right I do live there.”

”Alec? That’s a cool name,” she cocked her head to the side as she mouthed his name, “is it short for something?”

“Alexander.”

“That makes sense,” she laughed loudly then suddenly changed the topic, “hey, is that our bus?” 

She pointed over to the yellow school bus - that was beginning to rust - and suddenly began to get excited about going to the school. Alec didn’t want to put her hopes down, but it probably really wasn’t what she was expecting at all.

She climbed onto the bus and - in the same tone she had used with Alec - said good morning to the bus driver, the bus driver tried to be polite back but it just came out as sarcastic so Lydia slowly began to walk down the bus.

Alec simply smiled to the bus driver and then followed Lydia to a seat, “I hope it’s okay if I sit with you,” he watched the blonde girl take a seat.

“Of course, I would have thought you’d want to sit with your friends though,” she pulled a face at him and he let out a small (quite fake) laugh as he sat down.

“I don’t have any, well there’s one guy, but we don’t talk outside of our Music class.”

“So what do you do at lunch, sit by yourself?”

“Yeah, it’s kind of boring,” Alec frowned, “but… If you’d like to be my friend, that’d be nice.”

“I’d love to be your friend Alec.”

“Aw, little Lightwood has a girlfriend,” a boy teased from the backseat, Alec looked over his shoulder to see Sebastian Morgenstern - the most irritating senior he’d ever known - laughing at Alec.

Alec rolled his eyes at the stupid comment, he’d tell Lydia why he thought it was stupid but he didn’t want to scare her off, she was a nice girl. Nobody in the school knew who he actually had a crush on, they’d all laugh at him if they knew.

Magnus Bane.

Even Izzy didn’t know, then again, Izzy was too preoccupied playing with that Clary girl to notice what her brother had going on. 

Magnus didn’t like him back though, Alec was sure of that, because Magnus had Camille. Magnus was taken.

***

After Lydia’s first (uneventful) day at her new school, the pair raced back to their houses from the bus stop, Alec fell into laughter as Lydia managed to overtake him with ease. When he reached the end he smiled brightly to her.

“You’re an amazing runner, you should try out for the track team.”

Lydia shrugged and pulled a face, she looked over to her house where the front door had opened - her mother was waiting by the door for her, “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow,” Alec smiled and watched the girl practically skip back to her own house. He opened his own front door after seeing Lydia go inside and smiled as he caught the scent of his dinner, ready just in time. He kicked off his shoes by the door and dropped his bag. In the kitchen, his father was trying to get Max to eat the food he had been given but Max was being stubborn per usual.

“I’ll do it,” Alec offered as he approached his father, his father easily gave up and handed the plastic bowl and spoon to Alec. Alec sat down in front of Max and gently began to feed the young boy, somehow it was easy for Alec - Max just seemed to enjoy his company more.

“Good Maxxie,” Alec chuckled as Max ate from the spoon.

“Of course he eats when you’re feeding him,” Robert mumbled as he sat in his regular seat at the table.

“It’s all about trust,” Alec replied as he fed Max another spoonful, “and I don’t get angry when he doesn’t eat.”

Robert mumbled something but Alec chose to ignore it, he continued to feed Max until the bowl was empty. Max grinned up at him, a grin that made Alec laugh quietly. 

“So, Alec, I guess you met the Branwell daughter today,” Alec heard his mother comment as she turned away from the counter.

“I did,” Alec nodded.

“She’s a pretty one, isn’t she,” Maryse commented, letting out a small laugh, “you should ask her out sometime.”

“I literally just met her today, besides, she isn’t my type,” Alec shrugged.

“Why not?”

“She just isn’t,” Alec was definitely not going to tell them why. He probably never would. 

He was glad that the dinner was ready within the next few minutes, because when they were eating Izzy instantly began talking about the amazing clothes Clary had been given by her mother. 

***

Lydia was definitely the sweetest girl Alec had met, he had decided that. It was the weekend and, Lydia must have had some psychic abilities, Alec was shocked to see Lydia approach him when he was in the field behind their houses. He had been talking to the horses as though they would respond.

“Hi,” she waved to him, “your dad said I could find you here.”

That made sense, Alec smiled as he moved back from the horse, “it’s my form of good company.”

“They’re cute,” Lydia looked closely at the horses, “are they yours?”

“No, they’re Starkweather’s horses.”

“Starkweather?”

Alec pointed across the field to a distant house. Lydia followed where he was pointing and nodded.

“And does he know you speak to the horses.”

Alec rolled his eyes and laughed, “you heard?”

“I did,” Lydia joined in the laughter, she watched Alec as he moved back to stroke the horse again, “Alec, do you want to go on an adventure?”

”Uh, I guess, do you have a plan to go somewhere in particular or…?”

“We drove past a really cool place when we moved in here, I want to check it out and I thought I’d see if you wanted to come with me.”

Alec loved how eager Lydia was, she was energetic and bubbly - he honestly hoped that she’d be his friend forever, “I do love an adventure.”

“Great!” Lydia grabbed Alec’s hand and gently pulled him away from the horses once he had quickly said goodbye to them, they walked past their houses and continued down the dirt track. She turned a sharp corner when they reached the end and Alec could have sworn that if she was strong enough he would have gone flying. It wasn’t too far away from the houses, tucked away and almost hidden completely was a small passage way that led through trees.

“How exactly did you see this?”

“I was looking out for adventure,” she laughed and then darted through the trees. Alec rushed in after her, not wanting her to get lost alone.

They followed the dirt path, Lydia pointed at several trees on the way and told Alec the specifics about each tree. Alec had no idea that the girl was a genius. She could have spoken for hours, he was sure of that. 

“By the angel,” she gasped. Alec still didn’t understand why she said that. Lydia threw her hand out and hit Alec’s chest, when she had his full attention she pointed to the creek that cut off their path, “it’s so beautiful.”

“And dangerous,” Alec commented, “you would have thought it would be fenced up.”

“No way! It’s like… A portal to another world.”

“What?”

“Like across the creek, who knows what lurks there.”

“And we won’t find out,” Alec pulled a face, “it doesn’t look like there’s any way across it,” he placed a hand on Lydia’s back. Lydia frowned and began to walk along the side of the creek to continue their adventure. She stopped - once again - and pointed up.

“Up there! There’s a rope,” she looked to Alec with bright eyes, “come on we have to try it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” she ran close to it. The end of the rope was on the other side of the creek, “damn,” she looked around the area quickly, trying to find anything she could to catch the rope. 

Alec picked up a thin fallen branch and passed it to Lydia, the girl took it with ease and held the branch out, she swung it towards the rope and after one hit the rope slipped from the other side and swung across the creek. Lydia dropped the branch in time to catch the rope. She looked over her shoulder to Alec, “you want to go first?”

“Uh… No thanks,” he shook his head quickly.

“Chicken,” she laughed. She moved backwards slightly and gripped tightly onto the rope. Alec couldn’t bring himself to watch as she ran forward and jumped from the edge. When he opened his eyes, she was on the other side still holding the rope, “come on, Lightwood!”

She threw the rope back to the other side, so Alec caught it. He stared at her for a moment, then glanced down to the creek were water was flowing past quickly. He copied Lydia’s movements, a few steps back, a tightened grip, then he ran and jumped. He had closed his eyes just before the jump but he opened them again when he was swinging through the air. He let out a laugh and then managed to land on the other side still holding the rope. 

“Fun, right?”

“Yeah,” Alec nodded, he crouched down and tied the end of the rope to a sticking out tree root.

“Now let’s have some fun!” She grabbed his hand again and began to lead him through the forest. Alec enjoyed hearing the leaves and twigs crunch under his feet, he hadn’t heard sounds like that in a long time. Lydia began to giggle, “this place is amazing! And so untouched,” she let go of Alec’s hand and began to spin around, “isn’t it beautiful?”

“It is,” Alec nodded, “nature has always fascinated me.”

Lydia spotted something once again and began to run towards it, Alec followed her quickly. She stopped in front of an old tree house that seemed as though it hadn’t been touched in years, “woah,” she let out a quick breath and began to search for an entrance.

Once Lydia had found a ladder, Alec followed her up to the tree house. When he reached it, she was already sat on a makeshift chair.

“It’s even better when you get higher up,” she commented quietly and leaned back with her eyes closed. Alec wandered over to her side and sat down on the floor.

“I wonder who made this.”

“It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?”

“It sure is,” Alec ran his hand against the wall of the tree house.

Lydia opened her eyes again and let out another gasp, she moved from her chair to the inside of the tree house and waved for Alec to follow her. He did so. Once he was inside Lydia turned to him.

“Alec, this place, this place could be ours! I highly doubt anybody else comes here, it looks abandoned.”

”You want an entire forest to be ours.”

“Not a forest,” Lydia held up a finger to him, “the city.”

“City?”

“The City of Idris, we can take care of it.”

“Lydia…”

“Close your eyes and see what I see,” she held her hands over his eyes and then began to describe her imagine, “blue water in white fountains, tall buildings, trees placed perfectly,” she paused and pulled her hands away, “see it, look with your mind.”

Alec opened his eyes, looked out the window of the tree house and saw exactly what Lydia was describing, “woah,” he hadn’t expected to see it at all, but he did. The blue water, the tall buildings, the trees, above them all was a bright blue sky.

”The City of Idris,” Lydia smiled, “perfect, right?”

“Absolutely perfect.”

Lydia began to laugh, she turned around and let out another one of her gasps which Alec was slowly getting used too, “Alec down there,” she pointed down to the floor, “it’s a Shax demon!”

“Where?” Alec glanced about blindly until he spotted the demon that Lydia had thought up, “what do we fight it with?”

“I don’t know!” Lydia looked around the room and then pulled something away from the wall. She threw one of the things to Alec. He caught it and then saw it, a shining blade that was lit up as he touched it. Lydia had her own and the pair quickly both moved to attack the demon. Alec could admit that it was because of Lydia that that one demon had disintegrated but Lydia smiled to him as though it was a team effort.

“Good job.”

“Thanks, you too,” she looked back out of the window and frowned, “maybe that’s why we’re here Alec, to defend the City of Idris from the demons.”

Alec didn’t want to destroy the imagination, he actually kind of enjoyed it, he gave her a nod and looked out of the window to the city. A moment later, he only saw the forest again, in his hand was just a stick. He looked over to Lydia who was obviously still stuck in the imagination. Behind him, the supposed demon was actually just a rock. He frowned, even his imagination didn’t want him to be happy for too long.

***

Lydia and Alec had visited the City of Idris on multiple occasions and each time, Alec’s imagination grew stronger. He could see the demons that Lydia pointed out, and the glowing blades that they kept with them when they entered the city. Lydia told Alec that she was in love with the city and the challenges it brought to them. Alec enjoyed watching her in her element.

On their seventh journey to Idris, Lydia had began talking to Alec about the Warlocks and Vampires.

“Magnus Bane is definitely a Warlock,” she pointed out.

Alec laughed softly, “he certainly is magical.”

“You think?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s a good warlock though, unlike some who use their powers for bad. Maybe we should bring him here sometime.”

Alec shook his head, “n-no… No… Idris is for us, the Shadowhunters,” the truth was Alec didn’t want Magnus seeing him like this, playing pretend with Lydia. They were sixteen, Magnus would laugh at them. 

“Alright then,” Lydia laughed quietly as she led Alec along the path. They ventured further into the City. Lydia turned to smile at Alec every so often, he couldn’t tell why. 

Until she stopped working and jumped up to pressed a kiss on his lips.

”Oh!” Alec jumped back, “Lydia… I…”

“I’m sorry, I just kind of thought…”

“I’m gay,” he whispered to her suddenly, then he let his eyes grow wide. He didn’t want to have told her, perhaps she’d run off in disgust, “I- I-”

“It’s okay,” Lydia was still smiling, “I shouldn’t have just kissed you like that.”

Alec smiled down at the girl, she didn’t make any comment on his words, which made him feel far better about it, “you’re okay with me?”

“Obviously,” Lydia nodded, “why wouldn’t I be okay with it?”

Alec didn’t have an answer, he leaned against a wall of one of the Idris buildings. Lydia stood watching him. Lydia then moved forward and placed her hand on Alec’s shoulder. She then moved in to hug Alec, and Alec wrapped his own arms around Lydia. She was a sweet girl, and Alec was glad that he had her as a friend.

***

Lydia was ecstatic about the City of Idris, she spoke to Alec about the creatures that surrounded the world. She said across from the horse fields, there was a Seelie hideout, and in the old run down hotel with the bordered up windows there were vampires. She’d even provide Alec with evidence that Magnus Bane was a Warlock.

Alec did have to admit that there was something mysterious about Magnus, the boy was beautiful as well and according to Lydia warlocks were beautiful creatures.

Lydia had figured out about Alec’s crush on Magnus, after Alec had gone into a dreamlike state when they were having a conversation about Magnus. She teased him at first, but after seeing him look uncomfortable, she stopped. She did, however, continue to try and get Alec to make a move on Magnus. The boy was gorgeous.

Alec didn’t tell anybody else about the crush on Magnus. He wouldn’t. He couldn’t.

Lydia told Alec that although many people would think it wrong - his sexuality had no affect on his job as protector of Idris. Lydia explained, that in the past, the residents of the City of Idris were much like humans; believing that love belonged to a man and a woman, but she said that Alec had changed that for all of them. 

Alec had no idea how Lydia knew that, but she was certain of it.

One morning on the way to school, Alec saw Lydia pull out a sketchbook from her bag. She flipped through several pages until she reached a drawing that reminded Alec of maps he had seen beforehand. They were intricately detailed, with lakes, ponds, buildings. She was an amazing artist. 

“Lydia thats…”

“Idris,” she replied, she looked over to him with a smile, “it’s our city, Alec.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“Thank you,” she let out a playful giggle and then began to search through other pages, “I drew the demons too.”

“I didn’t know you were into art.”

”Art, languages, sports, I’m an all around girl,” she handed Alec the sketchbook, “my mother thinks my imagination is a beautiful thing, I told her my imagination is my reality.”

“It is?”

“I like to escape what the mundanes know as the ‘real world’, especially when everything began to go downhill for my parents,” she was quiet as she spoke, “when my dad started acting weird, he’d come home late and begin yelling at my mother straight away. My mother’s fragile, but she’s managed to stay strong. So have I, but my imagination was more or less my way of coping.”

“I didn’t know…”

“I kept it quiet,” Lydia still had a small on her face, “it didn’t seem like you needed to know.”

“So you and your mother live alone.”

“Yeah,” Lydia nodded, “well we have a dog too, I never told you about him,” the smile on her face grew, “his name is Pippin, like the musical. Maybe we should take him to Idris!”

“Do they allow dogs in Idris?”

“Dogs like Pippin will help to save the day,” Lydia tutted and almost glared at Alec, “why don’t we take him there tonight?”

Alec nodded, Lydia’s excitement was his main source of happiness now, it was an innocent excitement. 

“Oh, check this out,” Lydia turned the pages again. Alec watched as she changed to a page with a drawing (as intricate as Lydia’s braids) sketched onto it. It didn’t take him too long to realise that it was himself and Lydia, side by side with their own weapon of choice. Alec with a bow and arrow, Lydia with one of the blades they had picked up on the first day (she had called them Seraph Blades, Alec easily went along with it). 

“That’s amazing.”

“I even drew Magnus,” she whispered, she flipped the page and showed Alec the drawing of Magnus as a Warlock. He had blue sparks erupting from his hands and Alec noticed that Lydia had drawn his eyes as golden cat eyes.

“Oh wow, he’s beautiful,” Alec ran his hand over the sketch, “Lydia you’re so talented, you should show these to Ms. Fray.”

“Right,” Lydia snorted out a laugh, “show her a drawing which is very obviously of Magnus Bane - not weird at all.”

“One day, Lydia, one day you’ll have to show her.”

“When the time is right,” Lydia held up her hand to Alec, “but my art… It’s not that amazing Alec.”

Alec had no idea how Lydia couldn’t see her abilities, especially when she could see an entire magical world using only her imagination. He really did hope that Lydia would keep her promise and show Ms. Fray the artwork. 

“It is.”

Lydia laughed, she didn’t believe Alec at all - and that was frustrating but Alec couldn’t continue to argue with her. 

***

Lydia met Alec outside of their houses not long after they had returned home from school that day. She had a small blue eyed husky by her side, the husky was just as excited as Lydia was. Lydia had the leash wrapped around her hand - even though Pippin wasn’t actually attached to the leash.

“How do you propose actually getting Pippin across the creek?” Alec pointed down to the puppy who was wagging his tail. 

“Got it sorted!” Lydia reached into the small bag she had and then pulled out what looked like a piece of cloth. She unfolded the cloth and placed it over her shoulder. It was like some kind of bag, Lydia pointed to it and smiled, “it’s like a carrier for dogs, we used to walk through very muddy fields and Pippin would get tired and messy, so we carried him in this.”

“That’s cute,” Alec chuckled, he imagined the dog perched in the carrier. 

“I’ll put him in this before we cross the creek, now come on!” 

Lydia ran down the dirt track, Pippin rushed alongside her. Alec didn’t have to move too fast to keep up with them, he smiled as he followed them down to the passageway that lead to their Idris entrance. 

Lydia was giggling as Pippin run circled around her as they entered the forest area.

“Calm down buddy,” she called down to the dog, “you’re going to love it when we get to Idris.”

Alec had a smile on his face as he followed his friend along the creek, it wasn’t too long until they reached the rope swing. Whilst Lydia was picking up Pippin to place him in the carrier, Alec swung across to the other side.

He held the rope swing and watched as Lydia made sure Pippin was secure, after a moment she held out her hands ready to catch the rope again. Alec threw it back to Lydia, she caught it with ease.

“You feel good over there?” Alec quickly checked, “because if you want, I can come back and take Pippin.”

“No, I’ll be good,” she threw a confident smile to Alec and then stepped back, Alec watched her take a deep breath before she ran forward and jumped from the edge. Pippin was oblivious to the danger he was in, he just sat in Lydia’s carrier playfully panting. Lydia landed on her feet and passed the rope to Alec as she took Pippin out of the carrier. Alec tied the rope up to the regular tree root. 

Lydia let Pippin run into the City of Idris, Alec smiled over to Lydia. She returned the smile and then began to walk after her dog. 

“Seems like Pippin already loves Idris,” she watched the puppy sniff at the buildings they walked past.

“He does look quite content here.”

Pippin seemed to know where Alec and Lydia were headed as he raced ahead towards the tree house, perhaps he was picking Lydia’s scent or something like that. 

They ended up searching for more demons that day, it was actually pretty quiet compared to their regular days in Idris. Being quiet made the city far more pleasing. 

Lydia spent their entire journey grinning, it was like nothing could upset her. She talked almost all the time as well, Alec liked that. She was a bright ball of energy, her happiness was endless. Alec couldn’t help but suddenly wonder if she braided her own hair or if her mother braided it for her. 

”By the angel, I have to tell you what Camille Belcourt said to me today.”

Alec glanced up at Lydia suddenly, he was eager to get any dirt on Magnus’s possible girlfriend.

“Well not to me, but I was in the cubicle when she said it.”

“What?” Alec would have fallen onto his knees and begged her to tell her.

“She broke up with Magnus,” Lydia was grinning at the news, “and the reason, oh man. Well, it’s not a good enough reason to break up with someone but you’ll love it.”

“What is it?”

“He’s bisexual, she said she couldn’t keep a man who could cheat on her with some guy.”

“That’s a disgusting reason to break up,” Alec pulled a face, “but Magnus is bi?”

“Yeah, looks like you’re in with a chance after all, huh?” 

Alec laughed as Lydia began teasing him about Magnus, she really did want him to win over the boy, it was obvious. Alec was glad he had such a supportive best friend. 

They continued to talk about Magnus until it started to get dark, Alec knew his mother would have wanted him to be back before dark - and it wasn’t exactly safe in the woods. He helped Lydia down from the tree house. Pippin was already exhausted so Lydia placed the puppy back into the carrier as they marched back to the creek. 

Alec noticed that the water in the creek seemed higher than usual, it scared him slightly but Lydia didn’t seem frightened at all.

She swung across the creek and landed just as easily as usual, she gave Alec a nod before throwing the rope back across the creek. Alec caught the rope and stared down at the water, he took a deep breath before stepping back. Then he jumped. 

He felt his toes drag through the water, and that shot fear through him. 

He safely landed, but he looked back to the creek in fear.

“That water is way too high.”

“No it’s not,” Lydia laughed softly, “your legs are just too long.”

Alec shook his head. Lydia kept Pippin in the carrier as they walked back through the forest. It wasn’t long until the rain suddenly began to pour down. 

“By the angel!” Lydia yelped, she turned to Alec, “let’s get home before the dirt track turns to mud,” she grabbed his hand and they began to run back. Alec managed to keep up with her - and he was surprised she was running so fast when she had a dog in her carrier.

Alec almost slipped when they reached the dirt track but Lydia held him up. They were laughing, as they reached the point where the track split into two, one way lead to Alec’s house and the other lead to Lydia’s. 

They quickly bid each other farewell and went their separate ways.

***

At school the next day, Alec was sat by himself during lunch, Lydia had been talking to Ms. Fray - she said she’d show Ms. Fray her art but Alec knew that was probably a lie. 

He looked up from his food when somebody sat opposite him, he almost jumped out of his skin when he saw who it was.

Magnus Bane.

“By the angel,” Alec found himself mumbling as he looked at the beautiful sight, to think Magnus Bane was enough to make Alec use Lydia’s phrase.

“What?” Magnus cocked his head curiously.

”Uh, I said… Hi there…”

“Sounded like you called me an angel,” Magnus chuckled, “and I’d thank you for that.”

“What do you want?” 

Magnus shrugged and ran his fingers in circles on the table, “well, Alexander… I was wondering if you’d like to spend some time with me.”

“Time?”

“Like a date,” Magnus’s expression turned into a smile, “tonight.”

“I- I uh-”

Magnus leaned forward, “you, me, a dinner for two, perhaps even some… Close bonding.”

“Weren’t you in a relationship like… yesterday?”

“Camille doesn’t matter, I’m surprised you never noticed it was somewhat of a ploy to get your attention.”

“It… was?”

“Of course it was,” Magnus laughed, “making out with Camille in places you were bound to go.”

Alec blinked. Magnus was staring at him as though he was the most beautiful thing in the world, perhaps - to Magnus - he was.

“So, meet me by your locker at the end of the day, Ragnor will give us a ride back to my house.”

“O-okay,” Alec grinned to Magnus, “yeah, I’ll see you there.”

“Alright, see you,” Magnus stood up again, before he walked away, he looked back at Alec, “try not to let too many people know, okay?”

“I won’t let anyone know,” Alec promised. He smiled as he watched Magnus leave. He stared after the boy until his attention focused on Lydia. She sat down opposite him.

“Before you ask, no I did not show Ms. Fray my Idris sketches.”

Alec gave Lydia a look and then shook his head as he finally began to eat his food, “you made a mistake not showing her.”

“Maybe tomorrow,” Lydia gave him a half smile.

“You better,” Alec watched Lydia drop her sketchbook onto the table, he quickly slid it over and began to look through it. He stopped at a page where Lydia had sketched Pippin, “aw, he’s so cute,” he chuckled.

“I love him,” Lydia was nodding, “Pippin means the world to me. Oh! I was thinking about taking him with us again today, would you like to be his carrier?”

“I uh… I can’t go to Idris today.”

“You can’t? Why not?” Lydia looked offended, it was the first time Alec hadn’t seen a smile on her face.

“I just can’t…”

“Oh come on Alec, something must be wrong, you never turn down an adventure in Idris.”

“I am today.”

Lydia was frowning, “but the demons, Alec, I can’t defend Idris by myself.”

“So imagine less demons,” Alec hissed under his breath, “it’s only make believe anyway, not real.”

“Not… Real,” Lydia repeated the words as if they were foreign to her, “I…”

“Lydia, I’m sorry,” Alec began to apologise but Lydia stood up and walked away from the table.

Alec had possibly screwed up one of the best friendships he’d ever have.

***

At the end of the day, Alec stood by his locker as promised. He waited for Magnus. Before Magnus showed up, Alec was - as usual - surprised to see Lydia show up in front of him.

“I’m sorry about getting angry at you earlier,” Lydia gently apologised to him.

“N-no, no it’s okay, I shouldn’t have said what I said, it was wrong. Idris, Idris is real. To both of us,” he placed a hand on Lydia’s shoulder.

She smiled up at him, Alec could have sworn the girl wanted to cry, “you know you’re going to miss the bus if you stand around here much longer.”

“Oh… I’m uh… Not getting the bus.”

“You’re not?” Lydia cocked her head to the side.

“No, mom’s picking me up.”

Lydia slowly nodded, “okay then, well, I’ll see you tomorrow. I best get going, I can’t leave Idris defenceless,” she gave Alec a hug, “bye.”

“See you tomorrow,” Alec replied quietly. He watched Lydia run back down the hallway. He leaned back against his locker and waited for Magnus to show up.

He was convinced it had all been a prank, until Magnus finally showed up with his friend Ragnor following. 

“God, I thought you were making a fool of me,” Alec laughed as Magnus stopped in front of him.

“Never,” Magnus tutted, “by the way, I had to let Ragnor know, since he’s taking us home.”

“Fair enough.”

***

Alec was smitten by Magnus, he was charming as well as beautiful. He had put together a meal for them in barely any time. Alec would be lying if he said he didn’t love the food. 

He wasn’t sure what they were going to do after their dinner, but Magnus soon made it clear.

“So, how about we go up to my room, my mother might be home soon,” he gave Alec a suggestive look.

Alec understood.

“Your… Room.”

“Yes, you’re okay with that?”

“Yes! God, yes,” Alec nodded eagerly.

Magnus lead Alec up to his bedroom, he was chuckling at Alec’s awkward stutters. 

Alec was just happy that someone other than Lydia was paying attention to him, Magnus must have been honest, he really did seem to like Alec. He seemed to like him a lot, and that made Alec happier than any make believe city could.

They started off sitting on Magnus’s bed, making awkward eye contact and awkward touches. Magnus then finally moved into a kiss and Alec was shaken. He had been kissed by Magnus bane, the boy he had been crushing on for a while. The kiss felt somewhat magical, perhaps Lydia was right about Magnus being a warlock. 

The one short kiss turned into something more, Magnus gently pushed Alec down onto the bed and the kisses just continued. 

Alec was definitely enjoying his time with Magnus, he was a beautiful boy, and he was now Alec’s.

Alec couldn’t wait for Lydia to know.

She’d be so proud of him, perhaps it would even inspire her to show Ms. Fray her artwork. Lydia had been keen for Alec to get somewhere with Magnus, and now he finally had. The City of Idris would be celebrating, Lydia would make sure of that.

He could imagine her smile growing as she found out. 

“I know… You don’t want anybody to know,” Alec began to speak as he pulled away from Magnus, “but… Since you told Ragnor, can I tell Lydia?”

“Branwell? Of course you can,” Magnus nodded down at Alec, “but how can you think of her in a time like this?”

“I was just thinking, she’ll be happy to know… That we’re… Together. We’re together, right?”

“Well, would you like to be my boyfriend?”

“By the angel, of course I would,” Alec laughed softly and pulled Magnus back down. 

Magnus Bane was his boyfriend, everything was perfect for Alec.

He made the decision, as soon as he got home, he’d go to Lydia’s and let her know the news, she’d be thrilled.

***

Magnus’s mother returned Alec home later that night, he let her drop him off at the end of the dirt track. As soon as he stepped out of the car the atmosphere seemed to change. 

He didn’t know why, but it had definitely changed.

Before going to Lydia’s, he’d have to let his parents know he was home, so he made his way directly to his house. 

He opened the front door and heard all talking in the house stop dead.

“Alec?” His mother’s voice rang through the house, it was full of concern.

“Yeah?” He closed the door behind him and walked into the living room where his mother’s voice was coming from, “sorry, I thought I had sent you a text but apparently my phone messed up, hey I’m just going to run over to Lydia’s house and tell her something really important.”

He heard a sob.

He looked over to the source of the sound and saw Lydia’s mother sat in the armchair in the corner, “Ms. Branwell?”

“Alec, you should sit down,” Alec’s father pointed him to the empty sofa, “there’s… Been some news.”

“News?”

“Sit down,” Maryse patted Alec on the back.

The boy looked around in confusion, he had no clue what was happening, he did as his parents asked and sat down on the sofa, “what’s going on?”

“Alec, Lydia…” Robert went to start a sentence but he broke off.

“What? What about Lydia?”

“She’s gone,” Ms. Branwell choked out, “she… fell into the creek, they believe she was using an old rope swing. She… She went alone, well, she took Pippin with her. Pippin came running back to the house, soaked. Of course I was concerned so I followed him all the way back to the creek and… It was too late by the time I reached her. She was gone.”

Alec couldn’t speak. He couldn’t focus. He couldn’t breathe. Not Lydia. Not his best friend. It had to be an elaborate prank, it couldn’t be true. 

“No,” Alec jumped up, “no, no she’s not! She can’t be, it’s fine, she’s in Idris, I know it,” he ran out of the house, ignoring the calls from his parents. He ran down the dirt track, tears falling from his eyes as he ran. They had to be pulling a sick joke, there was no way it was real. No way.

He ran through the passageway and along the creek until he reached their rope swing - what used to be their rope swing. The rope had snapped and the water was even higher than it had been the day before. 

She couldn’t be gone, it was a lie. She must have reached the other side before the rope snapped.

“Lydia!” He called out, his voice was barely there, but he still called out for her, “Lydia! Stop playing around! Come back!”

He fell down onto his knees and let out a horrid sob, he hadn’t cried before, not like this. He just continued to cry, he didn’t want it to be real. 

“Please,” his voice was weak and he could barely even understand himself.

He had no clue how long he had been alone, but after a while, he felt someone next to him. He looked over to see Izzy slowly approaching him. 

“Go away Iz.”

“Alec, are you okay?”

“No, I’m not okay!” He yelled.

The young girl shied back and watched her brother, “Alec.”

“Go home Izzy, just go home!”

Izzy nodded and then ran back out of the forest. 

Alec stayed by himself, sobbing. It was almost pitch black when he was able to move again. He slowly made his way back to the dirt track.

He stopped down the dirt track, in front of Lydia’s house.

She was gone.

It was because he wasn’t there, instead he was off with some boy having fun - she was probably scared, and crying out for help. He could have saved her if he was there. But he wasn’t.

***

Alec refused to leave his room for the next few days, he didn’t go to school, didn’t answer his phone even though it was Magnus who was calling him. 

“Alec,” the door opened, his mother was stood by the door in a black dress, “come on, we’re going to the Branwell’s house. Remembering Lydia. She’d want you there.”

Even though he didn’t want to move, he did. She was right, Lydia would want Alec there. 

He changed into appropriate clothes and followed his family across to the Branwell’s home. Ms. Branwell welcomed them with a sad smile, they walked through to the living room where several other guests were - including Ms. Fray and her daughter, Izzy’s friend, Clary. 

Alec looked at Ms. Fray, the teacher knew that Lydia was destined for the art world, but she didn’t know Lydia’s full potential. He approached her before anybody else.

“Ms. Fray.”

“Alec, I’m… So sorry, I know what Lydia meant to you.”

“She was my best friend,” he nodded, “nobody else spoke to me like she did,” he looked around the room and pressed his lips together, “can I… show you something?”

“Of course,” Ms. Fray nodded and then folowed Alec through the house.

Alec had only been to Lydia’s house a few times before, but he knew Lydia’s room would make Ms. Fray proud. He lead her up the stairs, Ms. Fray had left her daughter with Izzy. 

“Alec, are you sure Ms. Branwell would like us up here?”

“There’s a good reason,” Alec mumbled a reply, he opened the door to Lydia’s room and walked Ms. Fray inside, “Lydia… She was an artist, you know that. But the work she showed you doesn’t even compare to the rest of her work.”

Ms. Fray cocked her head to the side, Alec quickly searched through Lydia’s drawers. He quickly found her sketchbook and held it out to Ms. Fray.

“She promised me, that one day she’d show you these sketches. I guess that day never came,” his voice broke again, “look, Lydia’s work, she… She was amazing.”

Ms. Fray let a smile show on her face as she looked at the boy, “She was, wasn’t she,” she opened the sketchbook and began to look at the sketches.

“I… I think you should keep it, in the art room.”

“I can’t just take her book.”

“Tell Ms. Branwell that I told you to take it,” he placed his hand on the book, “it’s what Lydia deserves, the recognition for her true talent.”

Ms. Fray nodded and then left the room to find Ms. Branwell.

The second she had gone, Alec burst into tears again. There were photos on the wall of Alec and Lydia together, smiling, laughing. Lydia was the only girl Alec ever needed, she understood him perfectly. 

“I’m so sorry Lydia, I should have been there with you. Instead I was on a date. I should have gone to Idris with you. It should have been me the fell in the creek,” he fell down onto Lydia’s bed and let out multiple sobs.

Lydia was gone and it was his fault. Nothing could change that. 

The door was pushed open, Alec saw Pippin rush into the room. As he cried, Pippin jumped onto the bed beside him and cuddled up to him. Alec let the dog snuggle into him, Pippin probably did the same if Lydia ever cried. Although Lydia probably rarely cried.

“Alec,” Ms. Branwell stopped by the door and gave the boy a sorrowful look, “you know… Lydia was proud to call you her friend.”

“I’m proud to call her mine… I uh, I gave Ms. Fray her sketchbook.”

”I know.”

“That was okay, right?”

“Yes, Lydia was proud of her art. She wanted Ms. Fray to be proud of it too.”

Alec smiled as Ms. Branwell, he sat up in the bed and pressed his lips together, “I’m sorry, Ms. Branwell. It was my fault. I should have been there with her, maybe then, it would have been me - not her.”

“Alec-”

“It’s true. I should have been there, but instead I went on a stupid date.”

“She would have been happy for you, I know she would have,” Ms. Branwell placed a hand on Alec’s back, the one single piece of contact was enough to break Alec again.

“I’m so selfish.”

***

Alec didn’t return to school, not for a while, instead he focused most of his days by the creek. He couldn’t get to Idris, he couldn’t protect it for Lydia. 

He was, however, lucky. One day a large storm prevented him from leaving the house. When he visited the creek the next day, one of the large trees had fallen across the creek, a perfect bridge to Idris.

“Thank you Lydia,” he whispered as he examined the site.

The next few days after that were spent creating a safe bridge across the fallen tree trunk - Ms. Branwell helped him. The bridge was complete within four days, it was secure and it looked beautiful.

Alec created a sign, with the help of Mr. Starkweather from across the horse field. 

_Lydia’s Bridge to Idris_

As Alec was attaching the sign to the bridge, he heard footsteps approaching him from behind. He glanced down behind him and saw Magnus and Izzy looking up at the bridge in wonder.

“Idris?” Magnus asked curiously.

“Our own personal world,” Alec replied quietly, he didn’t mind Magnus and Izzy knowing. Lydia was important to him, “it probably seems stupid but-”

“It’s not stupid.”

“It’s not?”

“No, absolutely not,” he paused and waited for Alec to step down from the stepladder he was stood on, “I don’t suppose… I could visit it?”

Alec hesitated, “y-yeah, yeah you can. Lydia wanted you to see it actually, she said you were a Warlock in our world.”

“Really?” Magnus smiled brightly at Alec, “well, I’m glad she thought of me.”

Alec nodded, his smile dropped, “I never got to tell her about you.”

“I think she knows,” Magnus linked his arm with Alec’s, “so, about Idris…”

Alec held Magnus close to his side, he held Izzy’s hand. He began explaining his and Lydia’s world to the pair and they were absolutely fascinated by the story. Magnus looked amazed that the pair had thought up the entire world with intricate details. 

It was somewhat magical, in the first few seconds of reaching the other side. Alec could see the city of Idris. All of the residents in the city were in mourning. He explained the scene to Magnus and Izzy, it seemed as though the pair both saw Alec’s description as they looked into Idris in awe.

Alec knew Lydia would be proud of him, she’d be proud of his relationship with Magnus, she’d be proud of him opening up to Magnus and Izzy about Idris.

Most of all, he knew she’d be proud of the Bridge to Idris.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so sorry.
> 
> *sad youtuber voice* don't forget to like and subscribe


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